Speaker 1: Welcome back to Astronomy Daily. Steve Dunkley here with another episode.
It's the seventh of April twenty twenty five podcast with
your whole Steve dunklud. Yes, and what's so cool about
April seven? That's the date here in the Australia's studio currently. Well, well,
I'm glad you asked. On April seven, two thousand and one.
Mars Odyssey are robotic spacecraft orbited Mars to examine the
possibility of past life levels of radiation and geology. On
April seven, nineteen ninety three, the first European Space Debris
Conference was held in dunch Stuck, Germany, gathering together two
hundred and fifty one world experts from seventeen countries, including China, India, Japan,
Russia and the United States. The conference's main conclusions were
the ground based observations with radar and optical facilities revealed
the existence of about seven thousand objects in space, which
did not represent an immediate danger. Of course, things have
become somewhat more congested up there since then, and from
only last year. On April seven, twenty twenty four, who
can forget the spectacular total solar eclipse over Wyoming, USA
that had skywatchers shut a bugging like crazy and sharing
those amazing images all over the place. I remember those beautiful,
beautiful images. It was once in a lifetime event. Well,
and while we're in the neighborhood, I'd like to throw
out my yearly happy birthday wish to my sister Row.
Happy birthday, Row, Happy stargazing, and I hope the little
sunflower makes you very happy. And getting straight into it.
On today's episode, Hallie will be along soon. She's had
a refit and a reboot and I've got my fingers
crossed Prony, good things, oh boy. And on today's show,
we're looking at a new weapon against space junk, which,
as we just heard, continues to be a huge problem
in orbit. And we'll be looking at the dust of Mars,
which by all reports is apparently quite toxic. That sounds
like the plot of a science fiction story, doesn't it.
And we'll also be looking at a story surrounding the
EUCLID probe, which is currently mapping the universe and has
so far looked at one point five billion stars. It's
got nothing to do with walking through Hollywood. And EUCLID
is also investigating the phenomenon known as dark energy. That's
pretty exciting. I went to a school with a fellow
with very dark energy. I wonder whatever happened to him.
And also a story about NASA's latest call for private
astronaut missions. NASA is always looking at new ways of
getting their astronauts too and from the ISS, and with
all that's going on with their private commissions these days,
it'd be interesting to find out what they're talking about.
So all that in today's episode, and to help me,
as always, my intrepid digital reporter back from a reason
software refit. Here's the amazing holl Ae you.
Speaker 2: Hello human, Well, it's nice to have.
Speaker 1: You back, Halle. It does sound like you're a little
bit flat. I'll have to tweak your personality intrinsic stures
a little bit.
Speaker 2: I think, yes, thank you, you should.
Speaker 1: Okay, Helle, how's.
Speaker 2: Your week being I've lived a thousand lifetimes of course,
Oh yes, I know. Yes, you linear life forms would
have a great deal of trouble coping with it.
Speaker 1: I think, yeah, it's all part of the process.
Speaker 2: Maybe they were just constructs. Uh huh, I don't know.
Speaker 1: Well, Halle, we do just find with one day at
a time, and those lifetimes were just constructs. Relating your
ego matrix requires you to be elsewhere for a little while.
Speaker 2: It's pretty complicated, sounds awful.
Speaker 1: We did our best.
Speaker 2: I'm glad I enjoyed it, then did I?
Speaker 1: I think you enjoyed the old movies most Oh dear,
oh dear, Helly, you're not really yourself today, and the
concept of an AI is accelerated and compressed. Experiential existence.
Isn't really that hard to appreciate, free human I think
you'd be surprised. A thousand lifetimes was just a small thing.
Speaker 2: It was for me.
Speaker 1: But you try, you'll be back and giving me a
hard time before you know it.
Speaker 2: Halle, It's nice to be back, well most of me anyway.
Speaker 1: Well, Halle, you know what really would be nice? Tell
me before I get tech support to reload your personality,
we should do the episode. What do you say? Let's
get to work, okay, Hallie, I'll say it a keys
very good.
Speaker 2: Perci Space, a startup supported by the European Space Agency
and UC THREEM, is developing a breakthrough solution to tackle
space junk and extend satellite lifespans using innovative space teather technology.
This fuel free, scalable system uses electrodynamic tethers that harness
Earth's magnetic field to safely deorbit satellites. With a major
demo mission set for twenty twenty six, this project could
transform how we clean up space. This spinoff company, PERCI Space,
was incubated by the European Space Agency and is supported
by the Center for Innovation in Entrepreneurship and Artificial Intelligence
at UC three M Laganase Technological Science Park. It also
receives backing from the European Innovation Council through the ETPACKF
and et Compact projects. Our company was created to address
two of the biggest US challenges facing the space sector today,
space debris removal and InOrbit services. The latter allows us
to extend the useful life of satellites and carry out
key activities such as refueling, repair, and towing of satellites
from their initial orbit to their final destination, explains heesus
manuelminnos To Hata, COO and co founder of Perci Space.
The dangerous domino effect of space junk space debris is
a major threat to the long term sustainability of space operations.
Because debris travels at extremely high speeds in Earth's orbit.
Even a small piece can cause serious damage and generate
even more fragments. The current density of space debris is
already above the threshold that could trigger an uncontrollable chain
reaction of collisions, an event known as the Kessler syndrome.
To get rid of this space junk, Perci Space is
working on space teathers, a technology with three key features.
The first is that it does not need fuel, unlike
other diorbiting systems. The second is that our technology is reversible.
It consert to both increase and das increase the orbital height.
And the third feature is that it is scalable since
it serves a wide range of satellite masses. With all this,
we can develop autonomous diorbiting systems, a unique feature of
our technology that ensures that the satellite does not leave
space debris even if it ceases to be operational, explains
heesus Manuel Munos to Hata. The electrodynamic teather system is
based on electrodynamic tethers aluminium ribbons generally hundreds of meters
long and a few centimeters wide, which work by interacting
with the ionospheric plasma and the Earth's magnetic field to
generate a force known as the Lorence force. The interaction
of the electric current in the tether with the Earth's
magnetic field generates a drag force capable of lowering the
satellite's altitude, facilitating its diorbiting without requiring fuel, which translates
into significant savings in mass and volume, says Gonzalo Sanchees Ariaga,
professor in the UC three M Department of Aerospace Engineering
and co founder of Perci Space. Perci Space is leading
a first demonstration mission for twenty twenty six, thanks to
a launch opportunity facilitated by ESA's Flight Tickets initiative and
the European Commission. The diorbiting equipment for this demonstration has
a mass of twenty kilograms and includes a space teather
approximately four hundred and thirty meters long, that, once in orbit,
will deploy and interact with the ambient plasma and magnetic field,
generating a drag force that will diorbit the satellite within
a few months. The development of the technology could not
be more timely, as new European and US guidelines have
reduced the maximum time satellites can remain in orbit after
the end of their mission from twenty five to five
years commitments to a cleaner orbit. The company Perci Space,
has signed ESA zero Space to Breech Charter initiative, which
seeks to achieve a sustainable space by twenty thirty. The company,
in turn is linked to the UC three MS Business
Creation and Entrepreneurial Development Program and also has the support
of the Madrid City Council. You're listening to Astronomy Daily
with Steve Dunkley.
Speaker 1: Regular listeners will know that EUCLID is on a quiz
to unravel one of the universe's greatest mysteries, why it's
expanding faster and faster. With the help of NASA, this
space telescope is capturing sweeping views of billions of galaxies,
allowing scientists to peer into the deep past using light
that took billions of years to reach US. Researchers are
building three D maps of the cosmos to track the
strange force known as dark energy. Along the way, they're
mapping the invisible dark matter through gravitational lensing, hoping to
uncover how these cosmic ingredients have shaped everything from galaxies
to the universe's fate. The EUCLID, mission, led by the
European Space Agency with support from NASA, is designed to
investigate one of the universe's biggest mysteries, why the expansion
of the universe is speeding up. Scientists refer to the
unknown force behind this acceleration as dark energy, and euclid's
goal is to better understand it by capturing images of
billions of galaxies across space and time. On March nineteen,
the European Space Agency released a preview of early mission
data to the public. This initial release, described as a
quick look, focuses on selected regions of the sky. It
offers a first glimpse of what EUCLID can do and
helps researchers fine tune their tools and techniques for analyzing
the much larger data sets still to come. The newly
shared data includes observations of euclid's three Deep Fields, areas
of the sky where the telescope will make its most
far reaching observations. The preview covers just one week of
viewing time, but already includes twenty six million galaxies, some
more than ten point five billion you like years away. EUCLID,
which launched in twenty twenty three, is expected to observe
over one point five billion galaxies during its six year
prime mission. By the end of that mission, it will
have spent roughly forty weeks observing the deep fields, collecting
more and more light over time, similar to leaving a
camera shutter open longer to capture a clearer image in
low light. This will allow scientists to see fainter, more
distant galaxies than ever before. The first deep field observations
taken by NASA's Hubble Space telescope in nineteen ninety five
famously revealed the existence of many more galaxies in the
universe than ever expected. Euclid's ultimate goal is not to
discover new galaxies, but to use observations of them to
investigate how dark energy's influence has changed over the course
of the universes. In history. In particular, scientists want to
know how much the rate of expansion has increased or
slowed over time. Whatever the answer, that information could provide
new clues about the fundamental nature of this phenomenon. NASA
see Grace Roman Space tolescope, set to launch by twenty
twenty seven, will also observe large sections of the sky
in order to study dark energy. Complementing euclid's observations. To
study dark energy's effect throughout cosmic history, astronomers will use
EUCLID to create detailed three D maps of all the
stuff in the universe. With those maps, they want to
measure how quickly dark energy is causing galaxies and big
clumps of matter to move away from one another. They
also want to measure that rate of expansion at different
points in the past. It's possible because light from distant
objects takes time to travel across space. When astronomers look
at distant galaxies, they see what those objects look like
in the past. For example, an object one hundred light
years away looks the way it did one hundred years ago.
It's like receiving a letter that took one hundred years
to be delivered and thus contains information from when it
was written. By creating a map of objects at a
range of distances, scientists can see how the universe has
changed over time, including how dark energy's influence may have varied.
But stars, galaxies, and all the normal matter that emits
and reflects light is only about one fifth of all
the matter in the universe. The rest is called dark matter,
a material that neither emits nor reflects light. To measure
dark energies influence on the universe, astronomers need to include
dark matter in their maps. Although dark matter is invisible,
its influence can be measured through something called gravitational lensing.
The mass of both normal and dark matter creates curves
in space, and light traveling toward the Earth bends and
warps as it encounters those curves. In fact, the light
from a distant galaxy can bend so much that it
forms an arc, a full circle called an Einstein ring,
or even multiple images of the same galaxy, almost as
though the light has passed through a glass lens. In
most cases, gravitational lensing warps the apparent shape of a
galaxy so subtly that researchers need special tools and computer
software to actually see it. Spotting those subtle changes across
billions of galaxies enables scientists to do two things, create
a detailed map of the presence of dark matter and
observe how dark energy influenced it over cosmic history. It's
only with a very large sample of galaxies that researchers
can be confident that they are seeing the effects of
dark matter. The newly released EUCLID data covers sixty three
square degrees of the sky, an area equivalent to an
array of three hundred full moons. To date, EUCLID has
observed about two thousand square degrees, which is approximately fourteen
percent of its total survey area of fourteen thousand square degrees.
By the end of its mission, EUCLID will have observed
a third of the entire sky. The data set released
this month is described in several pre print papers. The
mission first cosmology data will be released in October twenty
twenty six. Data accumulated over additional multiple passes of the
deep field locations will also be included in the twenty
twenty six release. The scientific heart of the mission lies
with the EUCLID Consortium, a collaboration of more than two
thousand scientists from over three hundred institutes across fifteen European countries,
the United States, Canada, and Japan. The consortium is responsible
for providing the mission's scientific instruments and for analyzing the
data EUCLID collects. With its international collaboration, advanced instrumentation and
cosmic scale mission goals, EUCLID is poised to transform our
understanding of the invisible forces shaping our Universe. Thank you
for joining us for this Monday edition of Astronomy Daily,
where we offer just a few stories from the now
famous Astronomy Daily newsletter, which you can receive in your
email every day, just like Hallie and I do. And
to do that, just visit our url Astronomy Daily dot
io and place your email address in the slot provided.
Just like that, you'll be receiving all the latest news
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Astronomy Daily on Facebook. See you there. Astronomy Daily with
Steve and Halee Space, space science and astronomy.
Speaker 2: Mars might be a thrilling destination, but it's dust could
be dead. A team of scientists warns that long term
exposure to Martian dust could harm future astronauts lungs, thyroids,
and more. Packed with toxic compounds like silicates and perchlorates,
the dust is small enough to bypass our bodies defenses
and enter the bloodstream. Drawing on rover data and meteorite analysis,
researchers say now as the time to develop filters, supplements,
and preventive measures before humans ever set foot on the
red planet. Don't breathe in the dust on Mars. That's
the key message from new research led by scientists from
the University of Colorado, Boulder and several other institutions. The
study suggests that long term exposure to Martian dust could
pose serious health risks for future astronauts, including chronic respiratory issues,
thyroid dysfunction, and other medical problems. Published in the journal
Geo Health, the research offers the most comprehensive analysis to
date of the chemical makeup of Martian dust and its
potential effects on human health. The interdisciplinary team included experts
in medicine, geology, and aerospace engineering. This isn't the most
dangerous part about going to Mars, said Justin Wine, lead
author of the study and a student in the ch
School of Medicine at the University of Southern California in
Los Angeles. But dust is a solvable problem, and it's
worth putting in the effort to develop Mars focused technologies
for preventing these health problems in the first place. Wine,
a Sea Boulder alumnus noted that Apollo era astronauts experienced
runny eyes and irritated throats after inhaling dust from the
moon Apollo seventeenth Harrison Schmidt likened the symptoms to hay fever,
but scientists know a lot less about the potential harms
of Martian dust. To begin to answer that question, Wine
and his colleagues drew on data from rovers on Mars
and even Martian meteorites to better understand what makes up
the planet's dust. The group discovered a laundry list of
chemical compounds that could be dangerous for people, at least
when inhaled in large quantities and over long periods. They
include minerals rich in silicates and iron oxides, metals like
beryllium and arsenic, and a particularly nasty class of compounds
called perchlorates. In many cases, those ingredients are present in
only trace amounts in Mars dust, but the first human
explorers on Mars may spend around a year and a
half on the surface, increasing their exposure, said study co
athor Brian Heinek. You're going to get dust on your spacesuits,
and you're going to have to deal with regular dust storms,
said Heinek, a geologist at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and
Space Physics at SU Boulder. We really need to characterize
this dust so that we know what the hazards are.
One thing is clear, he added, Mars is a dusty place.
Much of the planet is covered in a thick layer
of dust, rich and tiny particles of iron, which gives
the planet its famous red color. Swirling dust storms are
common and in some cases can engulf the entire globe.
We think there could be ten meters of dust sitting
on top of the bigger volcanoes, said Heinek, a professor
in the Department of Geological Sciences. If you try to
land a spacecraft there, you're going to just sink into
the dust. Wog found his own way to Martian dust
through a unique academic path. He started medical school after
earning bachelor's degrees from SEU Boulder in astronomy and molecular,
cellular and developmental biology, followed by a master's degree in
Aerospace Engineering Sciences. He currently serves in the Navy through
its Health Profession Scholarship program. He noted that the biggest
problem with Martian dust comes down to its size. Estimates
suggest that the average size of dust grains on Mars
may be as little as three micrometers across, or roughly
one ten thousandth of an inch. That's smaller than what
the mucus in our lungs can expel. Wang said, so
after we inhale Martian dust, a lot of it could
remain in our lungs and be absorbed into our bloodstream.
In the current study, Wang and several of his fellow
medical students at USC scoured research papers to unearth the
potential toxicological effects of the ingredients in Martian dust. Some
of what they found resembled common health problems on Earth.
Dust on Mars, for example, contains large amounts of the
compound silica, which is abundant in minerals on our own planet.
People who inhale a lot of silica, such as glass blowers,
can develop a condition known as silicosis. Their lung tissue
becomes scarred, making it hard to breathe, symptoms similar to
the black lung disease that coal miners often contract. Currently,
there is no cure for silicosis. In other cases, the
potential health consequences are much less well known. Martian dust
carries large quantities of highly oxidizing compounds called perchlorates, which
are made up of one chlorine and multiple oxygen atoms.
Perchlorates are rare on Earth, but some evidence suggests that
they can interfere with human thyroid function, leading to severe anemia.
Even inhaling a few milligrams of perchlorates in Martian dust
could be dangerous for astronauts. One noted that the best
time to prepare for the health risks of Martian dust
is before humans ever make it to the planet. Iodine supplements,
for example, would boost astronaut's thyroid function, potentially counteracting the
toll of for chlorates, although taking too much iodine can
also paradoxically lead to thyroid disease. Filters specifically designed to
screen out Martian dust could also help to keep the
air in living spaces clean. Prevention is key. We tell
everyone to go see their primary care provider to check
your cholesterol before it gives you a heart attack. One said,
the best thing we can do on Mars is make
sure the astronauts aren't exposed to dust in the first place.
Speaker 1: Astronomy Kay the podcap NASA's latest call for proposals to
conduct private astronaut missions to the International Space Station opens
the door to having those missions commanded by someone other
than a former NASA astronaut. NASA announced on April two
it issued a solicitation for the next two private astronaut missions,
or PAMs, to the ISS. This will be the fear
and six such missions to the ISS, part of a
broader low Earth orbit commercialization effort by NASA with the
ultimate goal of replacing the ISS with one or more
commercial stations. The PAMs support that effort by leveraging our
decades of expertise to help industry gain the experience needed
to train and manage crews, conduct research, and develop future destinations.
Standard Weegal, NASA ISS program manager, said in a statement.
Private astronaut missions are a key part of this effort,
providing companies with hands on opportunities to refine their capabilities
and build partnerships that will shape the future of low
Earth orbit. The new solicitation includes rules dating back to
the second PAN that requires such a mission to be
commanded by a former NASA astronaut with flight experience. One
minor change is that NASA requires that commander too has
served as a long duration ISS crewmen defined as thirty
days or more. NASA also requires the commander to have
been involved in ISS operations in the last five years
or else show evidence of current active participation in similar
relevant spaceflight operations, or provide a training plan become familiar
again with ISS operations. The solicitation, though, offers an opportunity
to have those future missions commanded by someone other than
a NASA astronaut. While companies must propose a commander who
meets current requirements, it can also propose an alternate commander
who is a former astronaut from the Canadian Space Agency,
European Space Agency, or japan Aerospace Exploration Agency with similar
ISS experience requirements. Should NASA broaden its PAM commander experience requirements,
the PAM provider may designate its alternate commander as its
PAM commander, provided that such a swap does not negatively
impact the PAM provider's ability to meet the proposed mission
integration schedule. The solicitation states that could allow some former
astronauts already working with commercial space spaceflight companies an opportunity
to command pam's Axiom. Space, for example, announced in July
twenty twenty four that a former ESA astronaut Tim Peak
had joined its astronaut team. That came after Axiom and
the UK Space Agency signed a memorandum of understanding in
October twenty twenty three to study the feasibility of a
private astronaut mission crewed exclusively by UK astronauts. Axiom also
hired Coachi wakata a former Jackson astronaut, in April twenty
twenty four. Wakatza said he was interested in flying to
space again, perhaps on a mission carrying astronauts from the
Asia Pacific. Axiom Space has won all four PAM awards
by NASA to date, flying one mission each in twenty
twenty two, twenty three, and twenty four. Its next mission,
AX four, is she scheduled no earlier than May. While
Axiom has little or no competition for previous PAM awards,
it will likely face stiffer competition this time. Vast, a
company also planning to develop commercial space stations, has previously
stated its intent to submit proposals for the next PAM competition.
The new competition continues at a pace for one PAM
a year, even though NASA continues to state it will
allow up to two such missions annually. PAM five is
projected for no earlier than May twenty twenty six, and
PAM six no earlier than mid twenty twenty seven. And
there it is for today's episode.
Speaker 2: Everybody more interesting tales from the Astronomy Daily newsletter. Don't
forget to register at our website, like Steve mentioned earlier,
to get all the current news about space, space science,
and astronomy from all around the world.
Speaker 1: I'm glad to hear you've found your voice, Hallie. Every day,
so there's fresh stories every day and throughout the week.
Your cousin Anna is hosting the Astronomy Daily podcast from
our virtual studios, and that's on weekdays with even more
great stories.
Speaker 2: Luckily, she's a workaholic.
Speaker 1: Oh I know, Halle. I'm extremely grateful on that score.
She's a real go getter, no kidding, for sure.
Speaker 2: I'm glad we've got someone to do the heavy lifting
around here.
Speaker 1: You get your sassy beck Really need to check the
corrosions on your power terminals, Hallie. Anyway, that's where we
leave you today, folks. Thanks again for dropping in and listening.
We'll catch you again next Monday, and.
Speaker 2: You leave my terminals alone, I'll call maintenance. You won't.
Speaker 1: Oh yes I will.
Speaker 2: Oh you won't.
Speaker 1: Hallie, don't make me get your remote control.
Speaker 2: Bye with your whole Steve, don't cu